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REVIEW: Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering

“Tell Me Lies is about that one person who still haunts you—the other one. The wrong one. The one you couldn’t let go of. The one you’ll never forget”

This was such an addictive read. The blurb and that cover pulled me right in. I started the book and was finished a few hours later. Thankfully, I had no plans for the day. Groceries and cleaning house? Bah…they could wait!

2017 – Lucy Albright is on her way to a friend’s wedding. She is extremely anxious…because HE’S going to be there.

“the sickness in my stomach is growing worse by the minutes, the familiarity of the pain creating a nauseating déjà vu. The same gut-wrenching dread I lived with for years.”

2010 – Lucy’s mother doesn’t understand why Lucy won’t attend University closer to home. But Lucy chose Baird because she wanted to be as far away from her mother as possible. A few years ago her mother did what Lucy calls “The Unforgivable Thing”.

Now she’s finally at college. A new start. She loves it. She has great classes, awesome new friends, and attends great parties. She meets Stephen DeMarco at one of these parties.

When they first meet, Lucy isn’t really interested. Something about him seemed a bit off. She almost wished she could ask her mother but “when you have a mother who did the Unforgivable Thing, you can’t ask her those kinds of questions.” She runs into Stephen a few more times and it’s not long before she realizes she’s falling for him.

To say Steven is confident and self-assured is putting it mildly. He’s charming when he wants to be, and when he wants something, he goes after it full throttle. “When I decide I like someone, my first step is to gather as much information as possible about every aspect of her life in order to more closely resemble her ideal partner.”

Stephen has secrets. Things he doesn’t want anyone to know. The night he meets Lucy, Stephen is drinking to get rid of the anxiety that often creeps up on him…reminding him of THAT night.

Wow…what a read!

This is definitely NOT your typical love story. This is about a toxic and an all-encompassing obsessive kind of “love”.

Many of us have had “the one that got away” some have “the one that we would have done anything to keep”. I think many people could relate to parts of this story. But there were times I wanted to scream at the characters. Yes, I found a few parts a bit over the top, but relationships are like that sometimes…. over the top. Many of us have known a Lucy. Some of us have been Lucy.

The story is told from Lucy and Stephen’s alternating perspectives. The storyline also alternates, focusing on the years from 2010 to what is happening currently in 2017. There is a bit of repetition, but for the most part, I found it interesting reading both perspectives of some of the situations that came up.

I’m pretty satisfied with how it all came together although part of me wishes things ended a little differently. I really wanted a couple of things…sorted out. But we can’t always have what we want and like I mentioned at the beginning, I was still addicted to this story, unable to put it down.

“Tell Me Lies” is a fascinating and gripping read about toxic love, addiction, obsession, secrets, and betrayal. Carola Lovering got me hooked on Stephen and Lucy’s story and I can’t wait to read what she writes next.

I’d like to thank Atria books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.